Luke 23:44-24:12 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit." When He had said this, He breathed His last. The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous Man." When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew Him, including the women who had followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how His body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'" Then they remembered His words. When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

One of the realities of this life is that everyone faces problems. Actually, we “enjoy” seeing other people conquer problems - that is why we read mystery stories and biographies to see how people overcome problems.

We just don’t want to be the ones having the problems, right? Sorry, but that is the way life is! We will all have problems. Problems are not always signs that we have failed God.

Adam and Eve started their lives in a perfect situation. Every morning they awakened to the singing of birds in a beautiful garden. Yes, they had to take care of the Garden of Eden, but everything was perfect. No weeds, no poisonous snakes, no plant-destroying bugs. It was a great life. Every evening God joined them for a walk in the garden.

But then along came Satan and tricked them into giving it all up. The human race has had problems ever since.

Adam and Eve’s children got into a fight and Cain killed Abel. Things got so bad that God destroyed all life from the surface of the earth. Only Noah and his family survived.

But things did not improve. When Joseph was 17 years old, he was his father’s favorite son. His 10 older brothers hated him and wanted to kill him because of their jealousy. They finally sold him as a slave in Egypt. Although Joseph remained faithful to God he was falsely accused of attempted rape and was sent to a dungeon.

However, he remained faithful to God and a few short years later he was the number 2 man in Egypt.

As a teenager a shepherd boy named David was given the lowly job of guarding his dad’s sheep. Little did he realize that God was training him for a successful future. To protect the sheep he had to kill a lion and a bear that attacked the flock.

Once he was trained, God sent him to the battle front in a war between Israel and the Philistines. As a result he killed Goliath with a stone and a slingshot.

His success was awesome, but because King Saul was jealous of him, the success put David in danger of being killed for several years.

And so the stories continue throughout the Old Testament. In the New Testament Jesus said that if they treated Him poorly we would be treated poorly as well! My friends that is just the way life is! Sorry!

There will be times when it appears that our whole life is falling apart. How, then should we react when that happens?

Just keep on living, faithfully serving God. It is not always easy, but it is worth it. God will not lead you where He does not plan to keep you safe.

Consider the Easter Celebration. Holy week started with the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. We celebrated that last week. Jesus came in as a hero, but by the end of the week was a corpse! It looked as if His world had fallen apart, but it had not. Jesus understood that He had come to give His life as a ransom for us.

Because His disciples and followers did not understand the plan of salvation, their world collapsed around them. Things would never be the same.

Actually, God had fantastic plans for them! God also has fantastic plans for you and me. If we could fully trust Him and not resist the hard times we would be much more content.

The Bible tells us that Satan goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may desire. The week we now call Holy Week was much like that. At the beginning of the week Jesus’ enemies were sneaking around, plotting His death.

At the end of the week Jesus’ disciples were sneaking around, hiding in fear that they would be the next to die. Their fear was legitimate, for over the next several years, tradition tells us that all but one of the disciples died as a martyrs.

In the end, they were honored to die for Christ. The fear was gone.

In the midst of your greatest battles, God has a plan; He is always there for us, even though He seems lost and gone forever.

When Jesus died His friends were crushed. They thought that all was lost… all they could do is hide.

You know the story. Friday had been an awful day. After a terrible beating Jesus was required to carry His cross to Golgotha. Being exhausted He was unable to carry it all the way. Once there He was placed on the cross about 9 am. He died at 3 pm. It was an awful scene. The sky darkened, there was an earthquake, some graves opened and the dead came to life and walked around. The veil in the Temple was torn in half during the earthquake.

People hid in terror. They were confused. As one of the Roman soldiers said, “Surely this was the Son of God!”

The women that followed Jesus stood at a distance, observing all of these things. Normally anyone that died on a cross was left hanging there for a day or two. However, this was Friday and the bodies had to be taken down because of the Sabbath. Since the Jewish day starts at 6 pm and ends at 6 pm the next the Sabbath was from 6 pm Friday until 6 pm Saturday.

As the beginning of the Sabbath approached, Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate and received permission to bury Jesus in his own tomb. The women watched to see where they placed Jesus, then went home and prepared spices and perfumes so they could properly prepare Jesus’ body for burial.

When all hope is lost you just keep living as best you can.

Very early on Sunday morning – the day we celebrate as Easter – the women went to the tomb to embalm Jesus. Foremost on their minds was how to deal with the soldiers, how to open the tomb, and the awful task that lay before them.

We know that God had taken care of the situation; they did not know. They were just doing what had to be done.

Imagine their surprise when they arrived at the tomb! No soldiers, the tomb was open, and the tomb was empty! They were stunned; suddenly two men in white clothing (angels) appeared asking them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee: “The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'"

Then they remembered His words.

I want to say this as carefully and lovingly as I can, for if you have lost a loved one or if your world has fallen apart, you are struggling just like those ladies were that day. If you feel lost, confused and forsaken during a time of upheaval in your life it is because you have forgotten the words of Jesus. God always prepares us for whatever events we are facing. He is always with us in the midst of our battles. He will always be there, through the power of His Holy Spirit to lead, guide and direct you.

Absolutely overcome with joy the women took off to tell the Eleven – the disciples – the great news.

The men were just as confused and overwhelmed as the women were. (Always remember that all of the Bible heroes were just as human and you and I are.)

Jesus had been raised from the dead. He was – and is – alive and well.

Problems are a reality of life.

What problems do you face today?

1. Health issues – there is a lot of sickness out there

2. Sickness in your family

3. Financial issues – the financial problems in the nation affect all of us.

4. Emotional issues – the stress of life can totally drain us

5. Job loss/financial reverses – companies are down sizing. Christians face the same problems everyone else does

6. Drug problems

The list is endless. The question is, “Does God really care?” After all, God has to be really busy with people that are a lot more important than you and I are.  When you feel good and have money in your pocket, that seems like a silly statement but when you pray and the heavens seem like brass, it is a huge question!

The man that thinks he has no problems and can conquer the world is often in for a major disappointment. For instance, consider former heavy-weight boxer James (Quick) Tillis. Tillis is a cowboy from Oklahoma who fought out of Chicago in the early 1980s. He still remembers his first day in the Windy City after his arrival from Tulsa.

"I got off the bus with two cardboard suitcases under by arms in downtown Chicago and stopped in front of the Sears Tower. I put my suitcases down, and I looked up at the Tower and I said to myself, 'I'm going to conquer Chicago.'

"When I looked down, the suitcases were gone." Today in the Word, September 10, 1992 (found at www.sermonillustrations.com)

Adversity is a strange thing. It can either make you or break you. The choice is entirely yours. Two people denied Jesus after His arrest. The first one was Judas Iscariot – the disciple that betrayed Jesus with a kiss for 30 pieces of silver.

When he realized how he had made a terrible mistake, he took the money back to those that bribed him and offered to return the money in exchange for Jesus’ life. They laughed at him!

Rather than fall on his knees and repent he took a rope and hung himself. The rope broke and he fell to the rocks below, his abdomen ruptured and his intestines spilled out.

The second one was Peter. Also an apostle, he had promised to die with Jesus. In sorrow, Jesus told Peter that he would deny Jesus three times before the rooster crowed in the morning.

When Peter realized his mistake he went out and wept bitterly.

Peter was restored and became a powerful leader in the church.

The choice was his – obey or refuse to obey.

What do you do when your life falls apart? Go to God! Ask for forgiveness and healing if necessary. If the collapse was not your fault, then ask for wisdom and power.

The disciples were not responsible for Jesus’ death. Yet their world was crushed. They had their struggles, but God brought them through!

There is a well-known story about William Willimon, Dean of the Chapel at Duke University. Willimon once received a phone call from a very irate father. The caller told Will furiously, "I hold you personally responsible for this!" He was angry because his graduate school-bound daughter had decided to (in his words) "throw it all away and go do mission work in Haiti with the Presbyterian Church." The father screamed, "Isn't that absurd! She has a B.S. degree from Duke, and she is going off to dig ditches in Haiti! I hold you responsible for this!"

Willimon said, "Why me?"

The father said, "You ingratiated yourself and filled her mind with all this religion stuff."

Willimon was not easily intimidated. He asked the father: "Sir weren't you the one who had her baptized?"

"Well, yes," said the irate father.

"And didn't you take her to Sunday School when she was a little girl?" asked Willimon.

"Well, well, yes," replied the father.

"And didn't you allow your daughter to go on those youth group ski trips to Colorado when she was in high school?"

"Yes. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Sir," said Willimon. "You're the reason she's throwing it all away. You introduced her to Jesus. Not me!"

"But," said the father, "all we wanted was for her to be a Presbyterian."

Willimon replied, "Well, sorry, sir, but you messed up. You've gone and made a disciple!"

The father was a "Yeah, but . . ." follower, and didn't know quite what to do when his daughter said, "Yes, and . . ."

How about you? What is your response to God today? I pray that like those early disciples, your response is, "Yes, and . . ."